Natalie Yee, a junior at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, has always had a passion for math, science, and service. Natalie began her involvement with Breakthrough as a middle school tutor since she was a freshman. Currently, she is also a high school Breakthrough tutor and president of the STEM club at St. Margaret’s.
Natalie and fellow St. Margaret’s volunteers, including her mother, helped in setting up the fair for about sixty Breakthrough students at Marco Forster Middle School. “I hope to instill an appreciation of STEM in others in my community and help others to succeed in these exciting fields. My goal has always been to share my love of STEM and that STEM is fun and it sets the foundation for successful futures in whatever fields students may pursue.”
At the science fair, Natalie and volunteers demonstrated that math and science concepts can be applied to the real world. “I run fun activities and offer volunteer opportunities for the high school students to connect with the lower school students at St. Margaret’s. After coordinating with the lower school for the past two years I was happy to present STEM to the Breakthrough students, so they too, can see the fun side of STEM.” Five stations were set up with activities that included puzzles, estimation guesses g
ames, how to make slime, lava lamps, and how to measure how many pennies sank a boat. Students were actively engaged as they went from station to station curious about what they were going to do next.
Breakthrough greatly appreciates how involved and passionate Natalie is with the work she does. In addition, she is also greatly admired by the St. Margaret’s faculty as well. Dr. Jennifer Ross-Viola, a science teacher at SMES states, “Natalie is an amazing student-leader. She combines her passion for all things STEM and strives to bring events and opportunities to others that inspire them to love those fields too. Her contributions to our school and the broader Orange County community in the area of STEM and service are truly remarkable!”
We hope to continue seeing Natalie’s involvement as a senior and see what other interesting and fun events she will lead! Awesome work Natalie!
